Clothespin



J. L. WHl-TTED. CLOTHESPIN.

APPHCATION FILED APR- 30. 1917.

1,340,095. Pat nt d May11,1920.

. y I h 3331 I l a 7 I STATES PATENT OFFICE...

JOHN L. WHITTED, OF LONG ISLAND, KANSAS.

CLOTHESPIN.

Application filed April 30,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1', JOHN L. VVHITTED, a citizen of the United States, residing at Long Island, in the county of Phillips, State of Kansas, have invented a new and useful Clothespin; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to an improved clothes pin and an object of the invention is to provide a simple, eflicient and practical device of this kind, which may be manufactured at a small cost and sold for a reasonable profit.

A further object of the invention is to provide a clothes pin formed from a single piece of wire, so bent as to form clamping members that will hold andsupport an article of clothing in such a manner that there will be two right angle bends in the clothing adjacent the clamping members so as to relieve the strain on said clamping members.

Another feature ofthe invention is to pro vide the sides of the hook of the yieldable loop with correspondingly arranged sinuously disposed parts, to more firmly clamp the clothing to the shank.

In practical fields, he details of construction may necessitate alterations falling within the scope of what is claimed.

The invention comprises further features and combination of parts, as hereinafter set forth, shown in the drawings, and claimed.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a view in perspective of a clothes pin, as applied to a clothes line.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail perspective view of the clothing engaging loop and the hook of the resilient loop, more clearly illustrating how the clothing is clamped to the shank of the clothes pin.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a modified form of clothes pin showing how the corresponding sinuously arranged parts engage and clamp the clothing.

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the hook with the sinuous portion of the modified form shown in Fig. 3 and illustrating the shank in section engaging the crotch of the hook.

Referring more especially to the drawings, 1 designates the clothes pin as a whole, and which is constructed from a single Specification of Letters Patent.

PatentedMay 11:, 1920.

1917. Serial No. 165,560.

length of spring wire bent upon itself-be-v tween its ends, thereby forming the loop 2; The side 3 of the loop is arranged vertically upon a shank, the lower portion of'which is bent to form a loop 4, which is designed to be engaged by a piece of clothing, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. The other side of the clothes pin constitutes a spring arm 5 which may be bent, as shown at 6 and 7 to. form either a U-shaped or angular shaped resilient loop 8, as shown clearly in Figs. 1 and.

The loop 8 hasa spring arm 9, the end.

portion 10 of which is bent to form a hook 11, the terminus 12 ofj'which is deflected 1at-. orally, so as to permit theshank-3 to wedge between the sides of the hook. This arm 9 and the side 5 have sufiicient resiliency to cause the arm 9 to assume a position, so that the hook will be normally below where it should engage the shank, when out of engagement with said shank. By this construction and resiliency, the arm 9 is put under tension when the hook engages the shank, so that the hook will bear on the clothing engaging the loop 4. The more the arm 9 is put under tension, the greater is its pressure on the clothing, which engages the loop 4. The opposing sides of thehook 11 in Figs. 3 and 4 are provided with sinus ously arranged portions 13, which conform to each other, and by these portions 13 thin or thick clothing may be clamped in the hook, one equally as well as the other. For instance, thick clothing such as a blanket may be clamped so as to prevent displacement between the forward one or two sinuous portions, and if the clothing decreases in thicknesses, it may wedge farther between the opposite sinuous sides of the hook, and if the clothing is real thin, it may be forced into the hook until it reaches the crotch of the hook. Either the hook in Figs. 1 and 2 or the hook in the modified form shown in F igs. 3 and 4: may be employed.

Hook 11 engages side 3 at a point immediately above the loop 4 so that when a piece of fabric is clamped in position as shown in Fig. 2, substantially right angle bends will be formed in the fabric by the outwardly extending edge, of the loop 4 and the hook 11, which engages side 3 at a point adjacent the upper edge of the loop 4;. By so holding a piece of fabric it will be seen that the strain and pull upon the fabric engaging points of the horizontally disposed hook 11 and side 3 will be reduced to a minimum by the substantially right angled bend formed in the fabric by the loop l. Hook 11 which is angularly arranged and is in a horizontal V a loop formed by said wire being bent outwardly and upwardly and having its end in engagement with the arm, the other arm ex tending toward the end of the first mentioned arm and substantially parallel thereto, said arm being bent at right angles so as to form a horizontal portion, which pertion is again bent so as toform a second horizontal portion extending toward the other arm of the clothes pm, said second horizontal portion having its end bent so as to form a hook in a horizontal plane, said hook engaging the loop carrying arm at a whereby when a piece of fabric is clamped in position substantially right angle bends will be formed in the fabric by the outwardly extending edge of the loop and the hook thereby relieving the strain and pull upon the engaging point between the hook and arm, said angular arrangement of the hook in a horizontal plane also assisting in the holding of the arm carrying the loop.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN L. lVI-lITlED.

, Witnesses:

IGHARD lVILLIAMs, L. G. PILLsBURY. 

